Thrust bearings are commonly known and employed in industry and they utilize a support ring which contains a plurality of spaced-apart pads on which a rotating collar is supported as a part of a rotating shaft of a machine or the like. One example of an early thrust bearing arrangement of the type mentioned is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,400,168. The limitation, problem, and concern with the early thrust bearing of the type utilizing a plurality of pads involved adequate lubricating of the frictionally supported rotating collar on the pads. One early attempt to lubricate the thrust bearing of the type mentioned is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,836,065 wherein piping extends in the bearing itself and has outlets for the discharge of oil into the bearing and thus flood the bearing with oil for lubricating the bearing. Other U.S. Patents which show general arrangements for lubricating bearings are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,905,443 and 2,507,021 and 2,553,107 and 3,297,371 and 3,708,216. The latter two show a journal type of bearing with an oil inlet and an oil outlet relative to the bearing for flooding same.
With regard to the aforementioned, it was generally recognized that there was still a problem in positioning the oil at the friction surfaces, as desired. Accordingly, the prior art discloses lubricating systems which utilize oil passageways or even nozzles which direct the oil to the location where it is desired. In this regard, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,378,319 and 3,454,312 and 3,893,737 and 4,026,613 utilize specific oil passageways, and they even utilize nozzles, for directing the oil at the friction surfaces.
With regard to the aforementioned patents and the differences with the present invention, U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,319 does not disclose a nozzle which is threaded into the thrust bearing ring and which has its oil outlet directed at the friction surface between the collar and the pad. The same limitation exists in U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,613. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,454,312 and 3,893,737 both show a form of a nozzle, but they also show a plurality of a small oil outlet passageways through which the oil is expected to go on its path toward lubricating the bearing. However, in those arrangements, it is a problem that the nozzles with those plurality of small oil outlet passageways become clogged, and thus the proper lubrication of the bearing is impaired or completely interrupted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,737 specifically recognizes the problem of nozzle clogging.
Another concern in the art with regard to thrust bearing lubrication is that which is created by centrifugal force produced by the rotating collar and tending to cause the sprayed or injected oil to be thrown radially outwardly and thus be at least partly ineffective in lubricating. This problem is mentioned in the aforementioned patents, and particularly U.S. Pat. No. 2,507,021 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,737 mentioned the problem. Of course the centrifugal force problem is greater where the lubricant is dispensed toward the friction surface in a thin stream of oil which is readily subjected to the centrifugal force action and is thus repelled in its path toward the friction surface. Accordingly, also in that regard, the present invention is an improvement on the prior art.
In summary, the present invention improves upon the prior art and is different from the aforementioned disclosures in that it provides an oil dispensing nozzle which is not subject to clogging, it dispenses a stream of oil which is not subject to deflection by centrifugal force, and the nozzle can be aimed. In those three regards the present invention provides an improved oil lubrication system for thrust bearings.
Still further, it is known in the art that even where the thrust bearing is flooded with oil, such as in the earlier patents mentioned above, there is a churning action on the oil which precludes the oil from being fully effective in reaching the friction surfaces, and thus the bearing is not properly lubricated. Because of that problem, the resort to the nozzle or jet principle was deemed to be a solution, but that presented the other problems mentioned above, all of which are solved by the present invention.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.